12And
the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to
be with me, she gave me of the
tree, and I did eat. 13And
the LORD God said unto the woman, What is
this that
thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did
eat. (Gen 3:)

I have a thought for
you. This is not a
doctrine, nor does anyone hold this view that I know of. It's just a
germ of an idea I decided to turn into a study..

Adam and Eve committed the
dastardly sin of
disobedience in the Garden of Eden, for which they (and we) were
severely punished.

But who
was the one, if in fact there was
only one, who committed the sin?

Let's take a look at the
scene and see if
there is not a different perspective that can be taken. (I think you
women are going to like
this.) Please take note that I have left out verses I didn't consider
applicable to this study. For the full version, check your Bible.

15And
the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress
it and to keep it.

16And
the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of
every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17But
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of
it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

18And
the LORD God said, It is
not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for
him.

21And
the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and
he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22And
the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made
he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

1Now
theserpent
was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.

6And
when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one
wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and
gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

16Unto
the woman he [God] said,
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in
sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;
and thy desire shall be
to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

17And
unto Adam he said, Because
thou hast hearkened unto
the voice of thy wife, and
hast eaten of the tree, of which
I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is
the ground for thy sake; in
sorrow shalt thou eat of
it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns
also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the
herb of the field; 19In
the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for
dust thou art,
and unto dust shalt thou return.
(Gen 2: & 3:)

Did you notice the order of events? First Adam was created. Then God
told (commanded) Adam to not eat of the tree. THEN God brought forth
Eve - After
He had told Adam to leave the tree alone.

Later, when punishment was
being meted out,
God confirmed that it was Adam He had told, giving no hint that He had
warned Eve at all (verse 17).

All creation was cursed
because of Adam
since it was Adam who had been given the responsibility of passing on
the laws that had been given him by his Creator [Eve was not actually
created, but rather "birthed," (by caesarian section), you might
even say she was "cloned" from Adam].

Because of Adam, everything
went down the tubes. Because of Eve, you women experience pain in
childbirth, and as I take it, you have the sorrow of having to raise
rebellious little brats that pay no more heed to you than Adam did to
God.

You women are also to harken
unto your
husband who is to have the rule over you because, though you did not sin
in the same way that Adam did, your great, great, etc, Grandmother
displayed her proclivity to be deceived.

Paul followed up this by
stating:

11Let
the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12But
I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but
to be in silence. 13For
Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14And
Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the
transgression. 15Notwithstanding
she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and
charity and holiness with sobriety. (1Tim 2:)

And
then he
added to this by saying:

6For
of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly
women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7Ever
learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2Tim
3:)

Now
it's
obvious enough that women were not put under the headship of the man
because he has the capacity to make wise decisions. It's that men dash
in and make stupid mistakes (and sins) with his eyes wide open knowing
full well that he is going to be punished to the 'nth degree.

And
men are
less likely to listen to the wiles of the devil, and the persuasion of
wicked men (as described in 2 Timothy 3) as he is to be swayed by the
wiles of a flirty woman.

Man
was not
given the preeminence because of his wisdom, he has proven that over
and over throughout history. But since he was created first, he has to
bare the responsibility for all the problems we humans must endure. And
if you check out history, man has certainly fulfilled his job of
creating calamity, and producing dire consequences for us all.

It
was Adam
who brought sin upon this world, not Eve - that is if my train of
reasoning holds to its track at all. Of course the above falls far
short of proving such a point, but is there anything else that might
help support this position?

15Notwithstanding
she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and
charity and holiness with sobriety. (2Tim 2:)

"She shall be saved in childbearing." This is an interesting statement,
and difficult to understand as well. Just what it truly means I don't
know, but by stretching my imagination I think I can make it apply to
my position.

(Now, you know if I was a
Theologian or a
preacher I would not be showing my ignorance, but rather be making a
firm statement that no one with any understanding of Scripture should
challenge. So don't anyone say I am trying to be a Theologian! I'm far
too uneducated to be accused of that
transgression.)

I said above that, from the
way I read
Genesis, mothers would experience sorrow because of having given birth.
But is there an exception to this? I'm sure there are a lot of women
who can honestly say they have raised wonderful and obedient children.
But we know full well that this is far from the rule.

No, it's not the rule, but
let us see if
there is an exception that is
the rule.

10Moreover
the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 11Ask
thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the
height above. 12But
Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. 13And
he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to
weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 14Therefore
the Lord himself shall
give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and
shall call his name Immanuel. 15Butter
and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose
the good. 16For
before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good,
the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. (Isa
7:)

18Now
the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was
espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with
child of the Holy Ghost.

fear not
to take unto
thee Mary thy wife: for
that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21And
she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he
shall save his people from their sins. (Mat 1:)

26And
in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of
Galilee, named Nazareth, 27To
a virgin espoused to a man
whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was
Mary. 28And
the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly
favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29And
when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind
what manner of salutation this should be. 30And
the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for
thou hast found favour with
God. 31And,
behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and
shalt call his name JESUS. 32He
shall be great, and shall be called
the Son of the Highest: and
the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33And
he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom
there shall be no end. 34Then
said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35And
the angel answered and said unto her, The
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the
Highest shall overshadow thee:
therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall
be called the Son of God.
(Luke 1:)

41Now
his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. 42And
when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the
custom of the feast. 43And
when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus
tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. 44But
they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey;
and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. 45And
when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking
him. 46And
it came to pass, that after
three days they found him
in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them,
and asking them questions. 47And
all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. 48And
when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son,
why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought
thee sorrowing. 49And
he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must
be about my Father's
business? 50And
they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. 51And
he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject
unto them: but his mother
kept all these sayings in her heart. 52And
Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
(Luke 2:)

Do I have a point in telling you the Christmas story that you already
know? You know
I do.

Mary was a woman blessed by
God with the
honor of issuing forth the promised Messiah, the very Son of God. Mary
was chosen, like Moses was chosen, like Noah was chosen, like Peter,
John, Paul and all the other disciples were chosen. Mary wasn't
special, nor even specially prepared for her given responsibility (as
far as we know). But she was
chosen.

The Roman Catholic church
believes that Mary
herself had some form of "Immaculate Conception," that is somehow Mary
was born without "Original Sin" as is everyone else. (Where they get
that doctrine from, I have no idea, but I reckon it must come from some
sort of extra biblical tradition.) The reason
they believe this, which is logical (and merely a conjecture on my
part), is they believe she is the physical embodiment of the Ark of the
Covenant, and more to the point, they believe if Mary wasn't
sinless, then she would have passed on Adam and Eves sin nature, and
that just couldn't be if Jesus was to be born "without sin."

A problem with this concept
is, if Jesus did not
have any of the sin nature that we
have, then His life, His death, and especially His temptation in the
wilderness would not be something we humans could relate to, since we do
have that sin nature.

The Protestant churches
discount Mary's
immaculate conception, but they give no other explanation (that I know
of) for Jesus' sinlessness which they consider essential for Him to be
both completely man, and completely God.

In other words, Jesus was
someone none of us
could possibly relate to, yet that is exactly what we are to do, that
is, follow His example.

That surely does create a
problem, does it
not?

In the Christmas Story we
see that Jesus was
to come forth from a virgin. Now we all know that is impossible, and
therefore, should such an event occur, it would be a miracle.

Yet, even should such a
thing occur, the
mother would still
have to bear the burden of dealing with the young, rebellious scamp
that inherited the nature of Adam and Eve.

Yet, as described above, it
appears that the
child Mary raised was obedient and did all He was required to do as an
obedient and submissive son.

Except for once, at the
Temple at the age of
twelve. However, even this
time, Jesus was not being disobedient or rebellious - far from it. What
was it He said?

"How
is it that ye
sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?"

Was Jesus being disobedient? Of course not. He was doing "His Father's
business." His Father's
business. Not His mother's, nor His step-father's business - His Father's
business.

And who was
His Father?

32Whosoever
therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before
my Father which is in heaven. 33But
whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my
Father which is in heaven. (Mat 10:)

According to Jesus, His Father is in Heaven, that is, He is the very
same One who created us, this world we live in, and our forefathers
(and foremothers) including Adam and Eve.

But, just a moment, who
was it that came to Mary and overshadowed her?

35And
the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore
also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the
Son of God.

So it's the Holy Ghost who "came upon" Mary, but it was the "Power of
the Highest" that overshadowed
her. It sounds to me like Mary had quite an experience, that is, having
the entire Trinity dealing with her at the same time!

Here we have as perfect a condition as possible for us mere humans. We
have a Holy Child birthed from God Himself while the Holy Ghost was
"upon" her.

Absolutely perfect; except
for one
thing - Mary's sin nature that she inherited from her parents.

And if Mary has a sin
nature, that would
also mean her children
would have her sin nature, would it not?

Mary had green eyes. Of course I don't know
that she had green eyes, but for the sake of this study, let's say she
had green eyes.

Mary also had blond hair,
again I am
just-saying.

Mary was unusually short and
inherited her
parent's tendency toward being exceptionally thin.

Joseph, on the other hand
had coal black
hair and eyes, and like his parents tended toward obesity.

Mary was kind, gentile and
soft-spoken.

Joseph was loud, boisterous
and demanding.

Mary and Joseph had 12
children. What do you
suppose the boys were like? What do you suppose the girls
were like?

Considering what we know
from history and
science we would expect
the boys to be much like their father, and the girls would be fairly
similar to their mother.

"The apple does not fall far
from the tree"
as the saying goes. Nor does, I suppose, the fruit from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil.

Assuming my statements above to be true and accurate, we know that
Jesus would have been quite similar to, and possibly exactly like His
father.

But Joseph
wasn't His father, so He would have taken on none of Joseph's
characteristics. He would have taken on His true
father's characteristics. And who was His Father? Of course it is God
Himself!

But that helps us little to
nothing at all
since we do not know Jesus' Father. So, let's learn a little about the
Father of Jesus.

First, if we are familiar
with the Bible at
all, we know that God is love, that He is fair, and that He will
chastise those of His children who disobey Him.

So we would assume Jesus
also has those
qualities.

Let's see if Jesus told us
anything about
His Father.

24God
is a Spirit: (John 4:)

God is a Spirit. That, I
take it means that
Jesus is Spirit also if He has taken on the characteristics of His
Father.

And if Jesus has the nature
of God, then He
had no sin, isn't that right?

But, what about His mother?
Although Jesus
was Spirit, therefore sinless; He was also flesh (John 3:6; Luke
24:39), and through the flesh of His mother He inherited Adam's sin,
did He not?

Let's look into the Garden
again and see
what happened there.

17And
unto Adam he said, ... cursed is
the ground for thy sake;... till thou return unto the ground; for out
of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art,
and unto dust shalt thou return.

Because of Adam the ground was cursed, and death reins in all of us.
Death. That, I take it means the sin nature we inherited because
without sin there is no death since death is the penalty
of sin.

But through Eve
neither death nor the penalty for sin was transmitted, other than
sorrow of childbirth and subjection to her husband; neither of which
has anything to do with our sin nature or our death sentence.

Add to this what Paul said:

14And
Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the
transgression. 15Notwithstanding
she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and
charity and holiness with sobriety. (1Tim 2:)

If
they continue." If who
continues? I would assume that Paul would have said, "if she
continues" if he meant the "woman," since he was using the singular to
begin with. Could he have meant if the children
continued in holiness that she, the mother would be saved?

Of course, that is asking a
lot of a woman,
and certainly of a child as well. But was there such a child?

Your know
what I'm going to say.

If my suppositions and interpretations and "Here a little, there a
little" hold any water, it would appear to me that woman is in the
clear when it comes to passing on the "gene" of sin and the
consequences thereof. If so, women are clean, and men are filthy as all
get out.

That is my thought for the day. But it is not an end to my thinking.

I also think of how the Church is considered by God as a "woman" and a
"Bride."

Women are used as examples
of bad
churches, such as the Harlot of Revelation (her badness transmitted to
her by Adam, that is man, I'm sure). And women are also used to
exemplify God's own Church as well.

But that is another study
not to be
undertaken at this time.

References

23But
the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to
worship him. 24God is
a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him
in spirit and in truth. (John 4:)

6That
which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. (John 6:)

39Behold
my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a
spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. (Luke 24:)

16Let
your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Mat 5:)

35And
he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if
it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36And
he said, Abba, Father, all things are
possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I
will, but what thou wilt. (Mark 14:)

10And
if Christ be
in you, the body is
dead because of sin; but the Spirit is
life because of righteousness. 11But
if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you,
he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal
bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12Therefore,
brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13For
if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15For
ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have
received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16The
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children
of God: (Rom 8:)

15If
ye love me, keep my commandments. 16And
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that
he may abide with you for ever; 17Even
the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth
him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with
you, and shall be in you.

18I
will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 19Yet
a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because
I live, ye shall live also. 20At
that day ye shall know that I am
in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 21He
that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me:
and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him,
and will manifest myself to him. (John 14:)

9And
I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall
find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10For
every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to
him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11If
a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him
a stone? or if he ask
a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12Or
if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13If
ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children:
how much more shall your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Luke 11:)